VANCOUVER -- Eight hours before game time, the mood in the Calgary Flames dressing room was loose, if not jovial.

Despite the immense pressure facing the young crew, the smiles didn't seem forced and the looks on their faces appeared relatively normal.

Except for Robyn Regehr.

That's because his face had shaving cream smeared all over it by Krzysztof Oliwa.

"Happy birthday," said Oliwa as he crept up behind the unsuspecting defenceman and applied cream liberally.

Dashing into the washroom to wipe his face clean, a beaming Regehr dutifully returned minutes later to finish off the interview he started.

"You were in on it too, eh?" said Regehr, who had earlier suggested, despite the fact it was his 24th birthday, "those guys know not to mess with me.

"I feel the same way as I did (at age 23), just I smell a little better because I have shaving cream all over me."

Like his club, Regehr's maturation through the series was evident, handling pressure well and logging added minutes as teammates continued to drop around him. However, as his age advanced overnight, the players used his birthday as a way to add levity to a situation most young Flames had never encountered.

"He got me three times as bad -- he got off lucky," laughed Oliwa, paying Regehr back for similar treatment a week earlier when Oliwa turned 31. "Obviously it's exciting before Game 7 but you can't be overanxious. It's a thing where you have to stay relaxed and keep it cool -- it helps the whole atmosphere."